REUTERS
August 5, 2025 at 11:20 JST
Two Cambodian soldiers (white shirts) who were detained in Thailand are released from captivity at O Smach town located near the border following a ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand, Cambodia, August 1, 2025. (REUTERS)
BANGKOK--Preliminary talks between Thailand and Cambodia defense officials started on Monday in Malaysia ahead of a key ministerial level meeting on Thursday, as a fragile truce continues to hold a week after the two sides agreed on a ceasefire. The ceasefire, which came after five days of border clashes between Cambodia and Thailand, was reached at a meeting in Malaysia last Monday, with help from the United States and China also observing. The worst fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbors in over a decade included exchanges of artillery fire and jet fighter sorties, claiming at least 43 lives and leaving over 300,000 people displaced on both sides of the border.
The ministers of defense of both countries are due to hold a meeting of the General Border Committee to discuss how to maintain the ceasefire, authorities on both sides said.
The Thursday meeting will be observed by representatives from the United States, Chinna and Malaysia.
Mistrust between the two neighbors has lingered despite the ongoing talks, with the Cambodia defense ministry accusing Thailand in a statement of violating the ceasefire agreement by using excavators and laying barbed wire in a contested border area.
Thailand said both sides are maintaining their position without any significant movements.
But “there are reports that the Cambodian side has modified their positions and reinforced their troops in key areas... to replace personnel lost in each area,” said Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a Thai military spokesperson.
Cambodia also demanded that Thailand releases 18 of its captured soldiers as soon as possible. Thailand said in a statement that the group are being treated well as “prisoners of war” and will be released after “a complete cessation of the armed conflict, not just a ceasefire.”
Thailand and Cambodia ceasefire holds as wary displaced villagers return home
July 29, 2025
Thai and Cambodian leaders to meet in Malaysia for talks to end deadly border dispute
July 28, 2025
Thailand accuses Cambodia of second ceasefire violation in two days
July 30, 2025
Tens of thousands flee their homes as Thailand and Cambodia clash
July 26, 2025
Thailand and Cambodia say they will return to agreed border positions after fatal clash
June 9, 2025
Thailand launches airstrikes on Cambodia as border clashes leave at least 14 dead
July 25, 2025
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
